SPRING 2011

138 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
John Boe
John Boe presents a wide variety of motivational and sales-oriented keynotes
and seminar programs for sales meetings and conventions. John is a nationally
recognized sales trainer and business motivational speaker with an impeccable
track record in the meeting industry.
To have John speak at your next event, visit www.johnboe.com or call
937-299-9001. Free Newsletter available on website.
PROSPECTING - BUILDING AN ADVOCATE ARMY
The single greatest concern facing all salespeople is
prospecting for new business. As a commission
salesperson, your livelihood is directly dependent on
your ability to prospect effectively. Do you consistently
ask for referrals? To be successful in the sales
profession you need assistance from your clients in the
form of referrals. Average salespeople do not invest their
time nor spend their money developing clients into
advocates. An advocate is a person that will go out of
their way to recommend you to their friends and
associates.
Obviously the more people that are saying good
things about you and your company in the marketplace,
the more sales you will make! I have never
seen a salesperson leave the profession
because they had too many qualified
prospects to work at one time.
Building an advocate army
doesn't happen over night, but
the time, money and effort
required to develop
advocates is certainly worth
it. Most clients are initially
reluctant to provide referrals and
need to be encouraged and trained.
Cows don't give milk; you've got to work for
every drop. To become effective, advocates need
to be trained and motivated. Advocates aren't born
they're developed!
How do I go about finding my suitable
advocates?
• Begin by creating a list of your existing advocates.
Clients that have already referred prospects to you,
automatically become part of your advocate army.
• Review your client list for potential advocates.
Identify those clients that have purchased multiple
orders or large single orders but have not yet referred a
prospect to you.
After I've identified my list of advocates and
potential advocates, what do I do next?
• Let your existing advocates assist you in training
your potential advocates. Develop an action plan to
contact your potential advocates and invite them to a
breakfast or lunch along with one or two of your best
advocates. This low-pressure approach is effective
because you merely guide the discussion and allow your
advocates to share their referral techniques.
• Stay in contact. Put your advocates on a suspense list
to contact them quarterly. Consider calling or mailing them
something of interest, such as an article or newsletter.
How do I train my advocates to
prospect effectively?
• Teach your advocates how to
approach a prospect. Be careful
not to let them overeducate
their referrals. Role-play the
actual words you would like
them to use when they
introduce you. I suggest that
you coach them to say what
it is that you do - not how you
do it. Keep it simple and short.
• Prepare them for the
standard objections that they may
expect to encounter from a prospect. If they
are not prepared to deal with the typical objections, they
will be less effective and will potentially be discouraged
from future prospecting attempts.
Obviously the more
people that are saying
good things about you and
your company in the
marketplace, the more
sales you will make!
How do I reward my advocates?
• Send them a thank you card and or call them to
thank them for referring a prospect to you. Keep them
informed on the status of their referrals. You must have
a system in place to provide feedback to your advocates
or they will not feel appreciated and will loose interest.
• Consider giving them a small gift for their
involvement, such as a gift certificate to a local
restaurant.